Cops Must Pay $107,000 For Brutality

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A federal jury has ordered three Sauget police officers to pay $107,000 to two Michigan men who said the officers beat and shocked them with Tasers during an arrest three years ago.

Adam Martin and Kenneth Pickard sued the Village of Sauget and Officers Brian Phillips, Jeff Donahey, Scott Hedgpath and J.R. Kinnard after being arrested outside the Diamond Cabaret nightclub. Martin and Pickard said the officers used excessive force and Tasered them at the club and in the police station booking area. The judgment was against Phillips, Hedgpath and Donahey. Phillips and Hedgpath still work for the Sauget police department; Donahey is now an officer for nearby Granite City. A judge dismissed the case against Kinnard and the jury did not find the Village of Sauget liable. Sauget is 5 miles east of St. Louis.